Publications Inner Nav
23 February 23
How the Dutch became the frontrunners in payment transformation
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Netherlands has a fascinating and ever-changing payment landscape where card payments are increasing each year and are preferred over cash payments. We wanted to k
27 January 23
How Lithuania’s payment landscape is changing
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We continue our series of European payment landscapes with a profile of Lithuania. Lithuania’s payment service provider (PSP) community was among the first to adhere t
20 January 23
The transformation of the UK payments landscape
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We continue our series of European payment landscapes with the profile of the United Kingdom (UK), and we interviewed Jana Mackintosh, Managing Director for Payments a
21 December 22
SEPA Payment Account Access scheme: going beyond open banking
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Payment Account Access (SPAA) is the newest European Payments Council (EPC) scheme. SPAA covers messaging functionalities allowing th
28 November 22
SCT Inst scheme – where are we now and where are we heading?
This time of the year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC): the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant credit transfer (SCT Inst) scheme is celebrating its fifth anniversary! To mark this occasion, we are sharing the most significant achievements of the SCT Inst scheme, its oppo
16 November 22
European Commission's proposal for a regulation on instant payments
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. On 26 October the European Commission (EC) adopted a legislative proposal on instant payments in euro, fulfilling its commitment of the 2020 Retail Payments Strategy f
26 October 22
The Nordic Payments Council: harmonising payments in the Nordics
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Nordic Payments Council (NPC) plays a critical role in the management of Nordic payment schemes. Newly appointed Secretary General Camilla Åkerman offers us her vi
14 October 22
Accessibility to retail payments in the EU
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European retail payments landscape has changed due to a multitude of reasons: innovation, regulatory developments, the Covid-19 pandemic and changing consumer hab
20 September 22
The Irish payment landscape: a digital transformation
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We continue our series of European payment landscapes with the profile of Ireland, and we interviewed Gillian Byrne Head of Payments, at Banking & Payments Federat
08 September 22
Standardising European QR-code payments
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. In June this year, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the final version of the Standardisation of Quick-Response (QR) codes for mobile initiated SEPA (inst
31 August 22
EPC’s 20th anniversary conference: “Integrated, innovative and competitive European payments: a generation’s effort or a never-ending quest?”
This year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC), which celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion, the EPC organised a conference on 16 June 2022 with the following theme: “Integrated, innovative and competitive European payments: a generation’s effort or a never-ending
25 July 22
The Polish payment landscape: a modern payments approach
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Polish payment landscape is characterised both by traditional practices such as cash, which remains one of the dominant methods of payment, and by innovation and d
15 July 22
European Digital Identity
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European Commission (EC) is now working on electronic identification (eID) and its further harmonisation across Europe as secure eID should be an essential feature
30 May 22
The European Payments Council's 20th anniversary: contributing to the future of payments in Europe
We continue our series of articles for the 20th anniversary of the European Payments Council (EPC). This time we interviewed Rita Camporeale, EPC Vice-Chair. We wanted to hear her thoughts on European payments and more particularly on how the EPC has changed over the years, what lessons have been le
29 April 22
The SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme: the first participant shares their experiences and views
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) is one of the most recent European Payments Council (EPC) schemes. Sami Karhunen, CEO of the first scheme partic
14 April 22
Pix: the rapid development of instant payments in Brazil
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Two years ago, the Brazilian Central Bank decided to launch Pix, an instant payment scheme that the bank developed, manages, operates, and owns. Since its lau
29 March 22
The European Payments Council's 20th anniversary: the transformation of the European payments landscape
This year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC), which celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion, we have interviewed Javier Santamaria, who has been active within the EPC since its creation in 2002 and became Chair in June 2012. We wanted to hear his thoughts on Europ
16 March 22
Instant payments in Slovakia
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Since January 2022, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme has been in use in Slovakia, where three payment service providers (PSPs) have joined the scheme
28 February 22
Empowering European account-based payments with standardised QR-codes
The world is going contactless. As smartphones spread and our economy goes digital, uptake of contactless payments has accelerated – including account-based mobile payments made using Quick-Response codes, or QR-codes for short. On 16 February 2022, we launched an eight-week public consultation on a
10 February 22
One-Leg Out: enhancing international euro credit transfers between SEPA and the rest of the globe
On 18 January, we launched a 90-day public consultation on the [Instant] Euro One-Leg Out Credit Transfer ([Inst] Euro OCT) arrangement rulebook. It aims to facilitate the processing of international (instant) credit transfers in euros between SEPA and non-SEPA countries. We interviewed the drafter